Defense Post
March 14, 2023

Ukraine Troops Wrap Up Leopard Tank Training in Spain

Ukrainian soldiers wrap up this week a four-week training course in Spain on how to operate the Leopard 2 tanks Western allies have agreed to deliver to help Kyiv fight Russian forces, the Spanish ministry said Monday.

The 55 Ukrainian trainees arrived mid-February in Spain and are scheduled to fly to Poland on Wednesday as they start to make their way back to Ukraine and the frontline, ministry sources said.

They have been training 12 hours a day, six days a week, at a Spanish military base in the northeastern city of Zaragoza….

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“While battle tanks are different, there are many systems that are similar, and that made things much easier,” Captain Contreras commented.

The group received technical and tactical training and will return to Ukraine “with a very acceptable knowledge” of the German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks, he added.

Part of the European Union’s military assistance to Ukraine, the training included both exercises on simulators and actual Leopard 2 tanks.

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Spanish Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said during a visit to Kyiv in February that Spain would be sending six Leopard 2A4 tanks immediately and hoped to send four more later.